A summary of my time here, my ups and downs, and my reflections 🙂
My main challenges of my internship were probably just the lack of flexibility to keep the brand image, and organizationally. The way that things are run at the company I worked for is a bit hectic, so trying to keep everyone in the loop while also getting my work done was challenging. This is why communication – and sometimes repetitively – is important.
I’d say that my main successes were helping my boss get ahead in posting schedule wise, especially with social media reels and posts. Being able to handle this meant we eventually had more time to work on leaflets, posters, and more creative things. I even got to design and chalk paint a sign for an event!
I learned a lot through this experience, and the main thing I learned is that I would definitely be able to take on this role in the future. I’m unsure if social media is exactly what I want to do, but I know that I would be able to have a starting role in a company.
Regarding the NACE competencies, I have definitely grown. Professionally not only do I have real world experience now, but I know how to send emails and delegate questions/tasks/assignments. This plays into better communication, where even a talk during lunch hour or a quick chat during work can help ideas bloom and get things rolling faster. Zoom meetings will probably never go away at this point, and knowing how to get straight to the point and comfortable communicating on screen is key to success. I think what I learned regarding global fluency is that the best way to learn is to listen. Listen to your coworkers, see how they interact, see how they communicate, and then start to mimic/join. Digitally, I have honestly learned how to navigate having 20 tabs open and still be productive. I’ve also spent so much time on Canva it’s a little ridiculous, so I’d say that’s a newfound skill. I’ve also had to learn patience and teamwork. When you are working under someone, I have to get feedback for almost everything. This requires a lot of patience when I need to change a post like 4 times to suit the brand image, but it is good to learn how to take feedback many times. As a new intern it took some adjustment, but I have learned to respect and take the advice of those who have worked at my company much longer than me – after all, they do know better.
Looking towards the future, I am unsure if I will choose to do a social media internship/job again. The discrepancy here is that I know I am able, and frankly that I am good at it. I have a ton of experience in this area, but I am not sure it’s for me, at least long term. I think that through this I will want to explore more marketing options – or something less marketing related and more artistically or operationally related. I know those two things are quite opposite, but I won’t know until I try. With this global internship I also might want to try to work internationally. My time here in London has been very fulfilling, and confidence building. Now that I know this city better I might want to try to work here in the future, with the confidence I have built by traveling and working here for these 6 weeks. I hope to be back here either way, but I think I would have a good base to try and come to work here in the future after I graduate.
